u/Accomplished-Eye8211

I just woke to find the weirdest experience, or mess, of my life. I wish I'd taken pictures. But I just started cleaning, wondering all the while, "What happened? What could have caused this?"

Entered my kitchen. The countertop has a few items on it. Last night, putting junk mail in the recycle bin, I set aside one oversized postcard to read later and lazily balanced it horizontally on top of a few items on the countertop.

Today. Large round splatter mark on the postcard. Sticky film on the card and surrounding items, counters surface. And the floor adjacent the under-counter cabinets. 3-4" wide stream of brown, caramel colored substance... dried and sticky near the cabinet... extends 10-12 feet to the kitchen sliding patio door where it's still liquid and pooling.

I checked the ceiling and underside of the overhead cabinets. Not one mark. There is nothing amiss in the cabinet. It couldn't be from under the floor - how would it hit the countertop. And home is built on a slab, no under slab pipes. Laminate flooring is intact and unwarped.

There was no odor, but I checked a nearby HVAC ceiling vent - hoping it wasn't a waste pipe leak into the ducts. Nope.

I even wondered if it was some kind of pest/rodent. But there's no evidence of droppings. And how could anything make that much mess, starting on a balanced postcard, but dislodge nothing. It would have to be a bigger rodent, I don't think a rat could make that much mess, but not dislodge a balanced postcard. A raccoon or possum would have created a bigger mess.

It's like a gremlin, or an intruder, broke into my home, opened a can of cola, poured it out, and left. (No, I'm not sure it was cola - although it's that color and dried sticky.) There is no evidence of entry.

And, BTW, I have no history of sleepwalking. Live alone

So I'm posting here. Anyone ever awake to find a mystery mess. Any ideas what the described mess could be?

I'm stumped. And kinda creeped-out.

EDIT -4 days later: I had given up. Decided it was a bottle of soy sauce, even with cap closed. No recurrence for a few days.

I just walked into the kitchen to find a small puddle of the same mess on the countertop. And actively, slowly dripping out through the door of the upper cabinet. Emptied the cabinet more thoroughly. In the back, a very swollen old can of pineapple. Missed on first review 4 days ago, because of another can atop it- in ok condition

At least i know now. And caught it much sooner, so no major mess on the floor.

I've washed out the cabinet.. it's drying. The juice got under the shelf liner paper. Cheap builder grade cabinets... the juice soaked into the wood. I'll put in some new liner paper... but.... Does anyone know how to get liquid out of the wood? Soaked in sweet rotten pineapple juice can't be good in the long run!